Just in time for the holidays, I’m excited to share my Great Big Homestead Gift List with you!  You’ll also find lots of great ideas for cooks, foodies, and gardeners.

Homesteaders are a hardworking bunch, and we’re usually on the thrifty side.  We tend to make do with “good enough” and balk at spending too much on ourselves.

But let me tell you: whether you’re in the kitchen, the garden, the barn, or the field, the right tools and gear can make your work a joy or a burden.  Christmas, birthdays, and other special occasions like Mother’s Day or Father’s Day are the perfect opportunity to spoil your favorite homesteader.

Whether that homesteader is your spouse, a family member, or a friend, you’ll find the perfect homestead gift on this great big homestead gift list.  Most of the items listed below are well-used and well-loved on my own homestead, with a few items that have been carefully researched and added to my own personal wish list.

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You’ll find high-quality, highly functional homestead gift ideas on this list: from small gifts that will fit nicely in a Christmas stocking to big ticket items your favorite homesteaders might never splurge on for themselves.  If you’ve followed my Roots & Boots blog for long, you know I’m a researcher.  I rarely make a purchase without careful investigation, and I only recommend products I love.

Great Big Homestead Gift List

This list is not exhaustive but should get your gift-giving ideas flowing, with a mix of basic homesteading gear along with more specialized items.

Note: small gifts suitable for Christmas stockings and gift baskets or bags are marked with a double asterisk, like this.**

I hope you’ll save this list and refer to it often as you shop for the awesome homesteaders in your life!

PS–If some of your favorite homesteaders are kids, you’ll want to check out my lists of Perfect Gifts for Farm Kids and 100+ Non-Toy Gift Ideas for Kids.

Let’s start in the kitchen…

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Kitchen Appliances

When you cook as much as most homesteaders do, it’s a good idea to invest in high quality kitchen appliances that can stand up to years of hard work.  These are my favorites…

• Vitamix professional blender–Arguably the best professional blender around; I use mine daily for smoothies, sauces, ice cream, waffle batter, and more!
• Breville 16-cup food processor–Yes, it’s pricey, but I use my food processor almost daily and it’s got to be a workhorse.  After years with a 8-cup model that was too small for my growing family and now with the unbelievably poor design of my current larger processor (read my review here), I’d happily save up my pennies for this top notch powerhouse.
• Breville smart waffle maker–For years we used a 1-waffle iron from a thrift store until three growing boys who love to eat waffles made this upgrade worth every penny.  We use it at least once every week!
• Cuisinart ice cream maker–Makes it easy to whip up homemade ice cream in about 30 minutes.
• Breville immersion blender–I use this sturdy hand blender to make my own mayo and coconut whipped cream, and to puree soups.
• Berkey water filters–Not an appliance per se, but definitely an investment in clean, pure drinking water.  We have the Royal.

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Kitchen Gadgets

Listed below are some of my favorite kitchen gadgets for homesteaders and foodies alike.

• Paderno spiralizer–Turn your veggies (especially zucchini, which is always plentiful on a homestead) into “noodles”.
• Veggie chopper–I love this chopper and use it mostly for onions, peppers, and sometimes fruit–it produces tiny, uniform pieces. Perfect for salsa, soups, dehydrating, etc. Easy to disassemble and clean (dishwasher safe).
• Herb scissors**–If, like me, your favorite homesteader dreads the task of chopping herbs, these scissors are the answer.
• Apple corer**–Perfect for creating apple sandwiches and apple chips, which are always a big hit with the pint sized crowd.
• 8-Cup glass measuring cup with lid–It’s a bowl! It’s a cup! I use it daily for soaking oats, beans, and nuts, as well as for straining homemade bone broth. It makes a great mixing bowl, too!

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Kitchen Tools

The first two tools from the following list are indispensable in my own homestead kitchen.

• Wooden blunt edge scraper**–If I had to choose only one cooking utensil, it would be my square edge wooden spoon.  It’s perfect for stirring and scraping.
• Wide mouth stainless steel funnel**–I’m fairly certain I couldn’t live without this funnel.  Most days we use it at least twice, plus it’s perfect for canning purposes.
• 12-cup glass tea kettle–Simple, nontoxic, affordable, and easy to clean.  I use my kettle daily for whipping up my morning cup of dandelion root “coffee”.
• Long handled pizza peel–For removing pizzas from your pizza stone (listed below, under bakeware).
• Lodge cast iron scrapers**–Handy for keeping your cast iron collection clean without soaps or abrasives.
• The Ringer cast iron chain mail scrubber**–My secret weapon for cleaning cast iron, glass bakeware, and even stainless steel.  Read more here.
• Chuck wagon dinner bell–This is a kitchen tool, right?  A dinner bell is on my own wish list this year (hint, hint) because it seems a bit more dignified than my current method of {ahem} banging a kitchen pot with a wooden spoon out on the porch.

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Cookware

Most homesteaders are interested in healthy living.  Nonstick cookware is the opposite of healthy, so we want to look for well-made cast iron and stainless steel pots and pans.  I use both.

• Lodge cast iron–I love cooking with cast iron! It’s nontoxic, nonstick, and offers a bit of resistance training as an added benefit. My collection contains one 5″ skillet, two 10″ skillets, one 12″ skillet, one Dutch Oven, and a reversible pancake griddle.
• Staub enameled cast iron–The crème de la crème of beautiful, nontoxic cookware.
• Cuisinart Multiclad Pro stainless steel–My exact Cuisinart set is no longer available, but this one seems to be the revamped version and has fantastic reviews.

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Bakeware

If your favorite homesteader is interested in replacing plastic, aluminum, or nonstick bakeware with healthier versions, they’ll love these nontoxic options.  I also love my glass bakeware, which you can read about here.

• Baking sheets (stainless steel)–These are a handy size; I can fit two side by side in my oven.
• Loaf pans (stainless steel)–A healthier option over nonstick pans for bread baking.
• Measuring cups (stainless steel)**–These measuring cups are awesome! Their compact size allows them to slide easily in and out of storage containers and bags.
• Measuring spoons (stainless steel)**–I chose these spoons after quite a bit of research and have been very pleased with the way they feel in my hand and how they can slide into narrow bottles like spice jars.  They also balance well on the countertop, even when the spoon is filled. Highly recommend.
• Solido pizza stone–We make homemade pizza several times per month and this top-rated stone is on my wish list.
• Roots & Boots Sourdough ebook – Learn to make einkorn sourdough and home dairy products in this 21-page ebook

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Food Preservation

Homesteading is all about growing food, so proper food preservation tools are a valuable addition to the homesteader’s kitchen.

• Excalibur 9-tray dehydrator–A game changer for the serious foodie or food preservationist.  It handles all sorts of garden produce, plus nuts, crackers, fruit leathers, and even meat.
• Mandoline slicer–My mandoline slicer comes in handy for preparing uniform slices of veggies and fruits for eating raw, dehydrating, or pickling, like raw carrot chips, dried apple chips and pickled radishes.
• Heavy duty pressure canner--A pressure canner is necessary for canning green beans and other low-acid foods.  Go ahead and spring for this gasket-free model.  Gaskets burn, break and crack, and eventually need to be replaced.  Not so with this heavy duty pressure canner: it should last a lifetime or longer without replacements or repair.
• Canning pot–This simple water bath canner is essential for canning tomatoes, jam, and other high-acid foods.
• Maslin jam pan–A helpful addition for the home canner who cans lots of jam.  May I suggest this amazing tomato jam?  We also use ours to brew big batches of tea for kombucha.
• Naturally Sweet Food In Jars: This book is just the ticket if you want to can jam with honey or other natural sweeteners instead of sugar.
• Fermenting kit–Turning veggies into enzyme-packed ferments is a classic homesteading skill.
• Roots & Boots Sugar-Free Canning course: Learn how to can fruit, without sugar in this course with 32+ videos and 27-page ebook.
• Roots & Boots Preserving Tomatoes course: Preserve your tomatoes by canning, freezing or drying in this course with 37 videos and 32-page ebook.

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Food Storage

Any true homesteader is already storing anything and everything in mason jars, but let’s face it: sometimes a mason jar just doesn’t cut it.  Sometimes you need one of these options instead…

• Glass snapware food storage containers–I own two full sets of these sturdy, nontoxic containers. Love them!
• Reusable produce bags**–Bring your own produce bags to the grocery store or farmers market. Simple to clean and store.
• Reusable sandwich & snack bags**–We’ve tried many brands and these are my favorite.
• Lunchbots stainless steel divided containers**–Love, love, love these little lunch boxes. Nontoxic, perfect sizes, virturally indestructible.

Books

Homesteaders are always learning and adding new skills and enterprises to the homestead.  Many of us are first-generation food growers and so we look to author-mentors like Joel Salatin, Eliot Coleman, and others.

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Homesteading Books

• Family Friendly Farming (Joel Salatin)–I’d read anything he writes and listen to any talk he gives.  Basically, I want to be Joel Salatin when I grow up.
• Folks, This Ain’t Normal ( Joel Salatin)–Ditto.  We’re actually reading this aloud as a family and my kids (4, 8, & 12) are loving it.
• The Independent Farmstead (Shawn Dougherty)–Super inspiring and packed with lots of first hand experience.
• Welcome to the Farm: How-To Wisdom From the Elliott Homestead (Shaye Elliott)–Mr. Native Texan and I enjoyed reading through this homesteading how-to book at Barnes & Noble on a recent date night and now it’s on his wish list.
• The Small-Scale Poultry Flock (Harvey Ussery)–The most helpful resource we’ve found for raising backyard chickens.
• Gaining Ground (Forrest Pritchard)–A hilarious and insightful account of Forrest’s journey through sustainable agriculture to save his family’s farm.
• Radical Homemakers (Shannon Hayes)–This book will challenge everything you formerly thought about how to earn a living, and what a “living” is in the first place.
• The Contrary Farmer (Gene Logsdon)–Delightfully contrary wit and wisdom from a real farmer.

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Gardening Books

• All New Square Food Gardening (Mel Bartholomew)–We follow many of these practices in our own organic garden.
• The New Organic Grower (Eliot Coleman)–This new, 3rd edition is on my own wish list!
• Four Season Harvest (Eliot Coleman)–Each of Eliot’s books are a treasure trove for the organic gardener.
• Four Season Farm Gardener’s Cookbook (Eliot Coleman & Barbara Damrosch) I love how this book is about gardening and how to cook and eat what you grow.
• Roots & Boots Garden Planning Course: Plan you best garden ever with 40+ videos and a 25-page ebook

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Real Food Cookbooks

• How to Cook Everything (Mark Bittman)–I especially love the simple preparation ideas for every cut of meat, poultry, and fish imaginable.  The measurement cheat sheet inside the front cover is an added bonus.
• Nourishing Traditions (Sally Fallon)–The classic Real Food reference book + cookbook, all in one.
• Against All Grain (Danielle Walker)–My all time favorite grain-free cookbook.  If you’re gluten-free and can buy only one cookbook, make it this one.  When the budget allows, go ahead and add her other books, too: Celebrations, Eat What You Love, and Meals Made Simple.
• Paleo Cooking (Elana Amsterdam)–I love Elana’s paleo and real food recipe blog and this book is a great collection of some of her best recipes.
• Real Food (Nina Plank)–Not technically a cookbook, but definitely a must-read for anyone who loves (or is learning to love) real food.  It will make you feel great about growing your own food!  And Nina’s suggestions for delicious and simply prepared veggies have guided my own standard method.
• In Defense of Food (Michael Pollan)–This one isn’t a cookbook either, but it will make you want to do whatever it takes to prepare (or even grow) real food for your family!
• Roots & Boots Real Family Meal Plan: Learn how to streamline your real food meal prep for six weeks. All the work is done for you!
• Roots & Boots Unprocessed Pantry: Ditch the junk and turn your home into a whole food haven

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Garden Helps

• Garden hod–Perfect for harvesting garden produce and flowers.
• Wilcox 11″ garden trowel**–My favorite of the many I’ve owned over the years.
• Stainless steel compost pail–This simple bucket has served us well for years.  We love it so much that we recently added a second identical bucket!

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Apparel

We’ve learned the hard way that you get what you pay for when it comes to farm gear.  It’s totally worth the investment for high quality, long lasting materials that will keep everyone feeling well-equipped for chores on the homestead.  Each item listed below is either hanging in our mudroom or on our own wish list.

Guys

• Leather work gloves**
• Lined jacket with hood (Carhartt)
• Waterproof coat (Carhartt)
• Quilted flannel jacket with hood
• Lined vest (Carhartt)
• Overalls, unlined (Carhartt)
• Overalls, lined (Carhartt)

Gals

• Leather work gloves**
• Lined jacket with hood (Carhartt)
• Lined vest (Carhartt)
• Overalls, unlined (Carhartt)
• Overalls, lined (Carhartt)–I haven’t tested these myself, and according to reviews they are best suited for gals 5’5″ and over.

Boots

• Muck boots–We’ve had a good experience with this brand and yes, it’s actually called Muck Boots.  Many heights and styles available: mid height, full height, insulated, uninsulated, men’s, women’s, kids’.

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Tools

Homesteaders are continually building and repairing things around the homestead, and the right tools will save time, frustration, and even materials and costs.  Example: you’re in the middle of a project and realize you need more 2x2s.  If you have a good table saw, you can rip a spare 10×8 board into the required 2x2s.  You’ve saved costs by using what you have and you’ve saved time because you didn’t have to run to a store.

Tools are definitely not my area of expertise, so Mr. Native Texan weighed in with a few suggestions for this part of the list.

• Circular saw–Mr. NT says this is most versatile saw and he is constantly using his.  If there isn’t room in the budget for a fancier table saw or mitre saw, you can get by with a good circular saw.
• Table saw–This one is meant for cutting larger pieces of wood, cutting straight lines, and ripping bigger boards into smaller sizes.  It gives you more options and saves time, plus it cuts more accurately and efficiently than a circular saw.
• Compound mitre saw–If you’re really good, you can cut angles with a circular saw, but a mitre saw will do it better and faster.

What would you add to this great big list of homestead gifts?  Homesteaders, what’s on your own wish list?

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